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Ask HN: Wouldn't using nuclear weapons in Ukraine be a sign of weakness?
And for this reason, Russia would never use them to win the war with Ukraine?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- dave4420 5y agoYou might interpret it as a sign of weakness. Some people seem to interpret using ridiculously overpowered weaponry as a sign of strength or virility.
- missedthecue 5y agoDo you mean vitality or do you mean that using nukes is a sign of a high sex drive?
- dave4420 5y agoI mean virility, and I mean that they do it to appear virile, not that it means they’re actually good in bed. You see the same thing with men and gun culture.
- Someone 5y agoI do not rule out thy using a single small nuclear weapon against a mostly military target would get unanswered. If so, I think it could be seen as a sign of strength “look what I can get away with”. Also, even if it is a sign of weakness, if the alternative would be not winning the war, which one would be the lesser evil, seen from the viewpoint of prestige?
- amichail 5y agoThey could say they have won the war by destroying a lot of military infrastructure and then leave Ukraine.
- Someone 5y agoAccording to Russia, there is no war. They could just say the special military operation accomplished its goals, which Putin stated are “to protect the people that are subjected to abuse, genocide from the Kiev regime for eight years, and to this end we will seek to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine and put to justice those that committed numerous bloody crimes against peaceful people, including Russian nationals”. (https://tass.com/politics/1409189 https://tass.com/politics/1409189)
- eveningcoffee 5y agoIt is. But if the world does not respond with full destruction of Russia, it might be viewed as clever way to win a war and provoke even greater horror. It is important to make this point very clear to Russia right now that such action will be not tolerated and it will provoke full nuclear response. Otherwise when they think that there will be no response out of fear, they might consider its possibility.
- yuppie_scum 5y agoIt ain’t trickin’ if you got it.